Out for a Stroll
by Duchess of Dorks
Summary: Danny and Sam decide to take the long way home after a night of patrolling. D/S fluff one-shot


_A.N. This is pretty much a plotless, fluffy one-shot that wanted to be written. Hope you enjoy!_

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"Tucker, you can let go now." Tucker opened his eyes and slowly unlatched himself from Danny.

Danny and Sam shared a smirk at Tucker's disheveled appearance. While flying his friends home after a quick patrol around town, Danny had "accidently" dropped Tucker after a comment about the "lovebirds" was made and Tucker was not happy. He walked to his door, grumbling about crazy ghosts and spiteful girls, before quickly turning around and grinning.

"You two have fun now," he cooed before quickly disappearing into the safety of his house. Sam just rolled her eyes, and Danny blushed, the red contrasting sharply with his pale features. He was still in his ghost form and didn't want Sam to get caught with the infamous ghost boy. He had enough stress already, without getting Sam into trouble.

"I'm gonna kill him one day," Danny said turning to face Sam. "So off to your place then?" he asked reaching out to grab Sam and take off. Sam hesitated though, making Danny pause.

"Hmmm," Same thought for a moment, "why don't we do it the normal way?"

It took Danny a few seconds to comprehend what she meant, but when he did, his face lit up. "You want to walk?"

"It is a beautiful night," Sam said, and it was. The summer heat had dissipated and left the night pleasantly cool. It was a typical Thursday night, hardly any people out considering it was almost one in the morning and Amity Park was notorious for its multiple hauntings.

"You're not afraid any killers might sneak up on us, are you?" Danny teased.

Sam snorted. "I think I'll be ok. I mean, I do have the town's most powerful ghost along with me."

Danny smiled. "Well Danny Phantom is taking a little break. Think Danny Fenton will do?"

"Only if he can keep up," Sam smirked before darting off down the street.

Danny quickly let go of his ghost half and took off after her. She had only gone a little ways before slowing to a walk, and he caught up easily and matched her pace.

"What do you know, Danny Fenton can run a few feet without tripping," she teased and lightly shoved him with her shoulder. Danny, who still had a reputation for being the school's biggest klutz, proceeded to stop midstep and froze. Sam continued a few feet before she realized he was no longer beside her and spun around to see what the problem was.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she scanned the skies for any oncoming ghosts. She hadn't seen Danny's ghost sense go off, but she had been a teensy bit distracted…

Danny's voice meanwhile had taken on a hard edge. "Who or what is overshadowing my friend?"

Sam froze, her mouth hanging open as she tried to process what just happened. Had she said something or did he see something suspicious? He continued, a hint of sarcasm creeping into his voice, "The real Sam would _never_ criticize me for keeping my secret. She's the one who constantly nags me about keeping my super awesome powers on the down-low."

At this Danny couldn't help but drop the serious act and burst into laughter. Sam's emotions leaped from confused to scared to angry. He had gotten one over her and she was stupid enough to fall for it.

"You should have seen your face," he wheezed between fits of laughter. Once the shock subsided, Sam marched up to him and punched him, none to lightly, in the stomach.

"Don't do that! You scared the crap out of me."

"I couldn't help it. It was too good of a chance to pass up," Danny managed to get out. His laughter slowly subsided and he resumed walking down the street, not waiting to see if Sam was with him. He would let her fume for just a little longer.

"Super awesome powers, my butt," Sam mumbled, catching up to walk beside him. Danny smirked, ignoring Sam's death glare.

"I'd say pretty awesome, maybe even remarkably amazing or epic." He rambled on until Sam grinned and jabbed back, "Yeah it was pretty awesome how the Box Ghost got the slip on you and managed to dump fifty pounds of packaging popcorn on you in the process. That sure was epic."

Danny blushed and stuttered his excuse, "Hey! It's not my fault I was stressed about that stupid book report. What kind of evil person gives homework over summer vacation?"

"Sure Danny, Whatever you say," she retorted. They let the conversation drop and walked in silence, listening to the night sounds. The quiet lasted only a few minutes before Danny broke it.

"So school is starting soon..." he muttered.

"And you sound so excited," Sam said sarcastically.

"Actually I am," Danny responded, both to their amazement. Sam had the fleeting thought of 'who is this and what have they done with Danny' before he clarified. "I'm not excited for the school part of it, you know, but I mean, we're going to be juniors, and ghost attacks have gone down, so I might actually have time to study, maybe get my GPA up," he mused. "_And,_ I'll finally be out of Lancer's class. I swear he has it in for me."

"Actually," Sam said with a small grin, "I heard he's teaching English 11 this year."

"What!" Danny yelped. "Are you kidding me?" He looked up to the sky as if to ask 'why me' before turning back to Sam, an exasperated look in his eyes. "See, he's following me, just trying to make my life miserable."

Sam laughed at Danny's horrified expression. "You'll survive…maybe. You _have_ defeated the king of all ghosts. How hard can the _Scarlet Letter_ be?"

"Earth to Sam, have you seen my English grade?" he said, waving his hands in front of her face. "That plus my detention record make Lancer scarier than Pariah Dark and Nocturne combined."

Sam rolled her eyes and sighed. "I think you'll do fine. You are Danny Phantom, hero of Amity Park and ghost fighter extraordinaire," she said, waving her hand dismissively. Danny was somewhat taken aback at the compliment, but he hid it with a grin.

"Ghost fighter extraordinaire? I bet I could market that," Danny said putting his hands to form a picture in front of him. "I can see it now, Phantom, hero of Amity Park," he proclaimed. "We would just have to work on the whole ghost menace thing."

Sam giggled at the goofy poses he was making but teased, "And thirty percent of sales would go towards cleaning up the ocean, right?"

"Sure," Danny murmured, momentarily lost in thought. He could see Sam's house come into view and realized he wished her house was just a little farther, just so he could keep talking. He really liked just hanging out with her, and between keeping up with school and constant ghost attacks, he hadn't really had the time to do so.

"Did you really mean that? The hero thing, I mean?" he asked quietly, his head dropping as if embarrassed. Sam was surprised by his sudden shift from light-hearted joking to this serious question. He kept going though, his hand coming up to rub his neck, like he usually did when nervous. "I feel like sometimes I do more harm than good. Like, the damage some of my fights cause and how some of the ghosts come here just for me."

"Of course," Sam said immediately, but when she saw the tormented look in his eyes, she knew that wouldn't be enough. She realized he must have been dealing with this for a while and just never brought it up. She wanted to make him see the hero she knew he was. "You save people, and not just from ghosts. You stopped a kid from getting run over yesterday, didn't you?" She looked up at him and saw him brighten just a little. "And you kept a wall from falling on that one lady not that long ago. Not to mention all the ghosts you've stopped from taking over."

"Danny, you help people and …" she trailed off, trying to form her thoughts into words. "And that's really awesome and amazing and it makes you a hero. It makes you Danny." They had finally reached Sam's door and she turned to look him straight in the eye, to make sure he knew she believed him to be a hero, not just some dangerous ghost.

All of a sudden, Danny pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Thanks Sam. For everything."

Sam relaxed into his arms and hugged him back, mentally scolding herself for enjoying it so much. She couldn't help it though, he was so warm, despite the slight chill his ghost powers gave him, and his arms were really strong and he smelled like grass and shampoo and Danny. She decided, screw it. She was going to let herself feel all tingly inside and enjoy the hug.

When Danny let go, she felt the loss instantly, her chest felt just a little hollow. His seriousness was gone and he was back to the old Danny she knew.

"You know Sam, you're pretty awesome too, you and Tucker both. You guys do half the work and don't get any credit."

"You mean getting our butts whooped and having ghost hunters track us down and threaten to rip us to shreds? I think I'll pass."

Danny smiled and stepped away, out of the light. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

He took a quick look around to make sure no one was watching and turned into Danny Phantom. "G'night Sam."

"Good night Danny," she said as she tried to quietly open the front door. She turned to see Danny take off and watched as his ghostly aura disappeared into the night sky.

'He'll do fine,' she thought as she quietly made her way to her room. 'He's a hero after all.'

Danny slipped into his house, thanking his ghost powers for intangibility. He quietly put his PJ's on and snuck downstairs to grab a snack before bed. By the time he finished the granola bar and was walking back up the stairs, he was dead tired. As he laid in bed, slowly drifting into unconsciousness, he thought about the beginning of the year dance at school. Maybe he could ask a certain goth girl to go with him. 'That sounds like a really good idea…' he mused before sleep took hold.

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_Thanks for reading and don't be afraid to point out any mistakes. Tips and constructive criticism are always appreciated. Reviews are awesome!_


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